Jan 31, 2017

Review & Excerpt: Long Way Home by Katie McGarry

"Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all."

I don't think it's possible for me to not like one of Katie McGarry's books. I had been waiting for this book ever since I read Walk the Edge, and I was worried that I had overhyped the book for myself, but it completely met all my expectations.I had already known both of the main characters from the previous two books, so I knew I was going to love them. Chevy is sweet and caring, and while Violet is the same way it is specifically geared toward her close family, not the Terror. Violet has to be one of my all time favorite characters now because not only is she a badass, but she doesn't need a man by her side to prove it. Her entire mentality is that she can keep her family safe and running without the Terror because she wants to be independent. She is the pure definition of a strong heroine.The plot was different from the rest of the series because we had already known the characters' from the first two books, so there wasn't as much background, but that allowed more room for the plot. There was definitely a lot of suspense in the book, as well as some amazing surprises, that I loved. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, and this series, to everyone who likes the YA contemporary genre. Katie McGarry always writes more serious contemporaries with realistic but unique issues, and I think that's what draws me to her books. I mean, who else has written such good books about teens surrounded by a motorcycle gang? I love it.

“Your
car’s broke.” Chevy glances in my direction again, and there’s a softness in
his eyes that I hate and love. It’s the same unguarded look as when we
whispered our most intimate thoughts into each other’s ears.

I hold
his gaze for as long as he can handle. “Thanks for the update, Captain
Obvious.”

Chevy
mimics tipping a hat that isn’t on his head. “My pleasure.”

The
right side of my mouth edges up. Damn him for being so charming.

“Stone,”
Chevy says. “Have you made big plans for tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Violet
turns eighteen.”

Chevy
and I had so many plans for eighteen. Spent too many nights in each other’s
arms planning out how we were going to celebrate this year. Dinner out of
Snowflake. Prom. Laughter with friends. Midnight and dancing on a blanket in
our field.

“Mom’s
mad at Violet and she said we might not do anything because of Violet’s
attitude,” Brandon blurts out and he scratches his chin twice. “Violet cut
class and the school called Mom to tell her. Mom’s really angry. She yelled. A
lot. And Violet wouldn’t yell back. Violet always yells back, but not this
time.”

Chevy’s
adorable smile falls into a frown and it’s really a shame. Brandon looks over
at me for confirmation that I’m not mad at him for spilling about my fight with
Mom, because I’ve reminded him several times that personal conversations should
stay personal, and I step toward him then briefly squeeze my fingers around his
wrist.

My
brother isn’t trying to tattle, he’s nervous being out in the dark and upset
over the fight Mom and I had before we left for the game. He has a problem with
letting negative emotions go. They circle his brain like vultures do with
roadkill.

Headlights
shine in the distance, and my shoulders relax. Last thing I want to do is get
into a discussion with Chevy as to why I didn’t tell Mom that I handed Chevy my
note. This has been an awful day, and I’m ready to pull the covers over my head
and stay in bed for days, maybe weeks.

I step
out onto the road, and using the flashlight cell, wave to signal Mom. This
isn’t the first time Dad’s car has broken down, and unfortunately, it won’t be
the last. Mom has passed us before. Though I’m not convinced those times were a
mistake as much as Mom attempting to teach me another lesson of how unsafe I am
in the world.

Footsteps
against the rocks and Chevy eases beside me. The car weaves in and out of the
center lane, and my arm hesitates in the air as unease tiptoes through me.

Chevy
places his hand on my bicep and forces it down. “That’s not your mom’s car.”

It’s
not. Mom would never drive like that and those aren’t the headlights of a
minivan. Those belong to something with some muscle. A scary sixth sense creeps
along my skin.

Growling
engines, then three single beams appear. Motorcycles. Those motorcycles aren’t
chasing the car, they’re following. My stomach lurches as I stumble back. Chevy
steps forward and he draws his knife out of the sheath.

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.